Quotes of the Day
Who is more qualified than Verona Johnston to expound on the secrets behind a long, healthy life? The retired Latin teacher, mother of four, grandmother of 13 and great-grandmother of 23 turned 114 on Aug. 6, which makes her the oldest documented person in the U.S. And there's plenty of life in her yet. "I can remember names pretty well," says Johnston, who lived on her own in an apartment until age 98 but now shares a house in Worthington, Ohio, with her daughter Julie Johnson, 81, and Julie's husband Bruce, 83. In fact, Johnston's mind is so sharp that she still solves word jumbles in her head; remembers joke punch lines; and, when she has trouble sleeping, runs through the names of her 36 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, rather than counting sheep.
Oh, sure, her vision is nearly gone, so she had to give up playing bridge at 110. She no longer travels solo to visit kin in Omaha, Neb., and San Diego, as she did at 100, and she relies on a cane to take steps, but Johnston can still hear fairly well, and she loves listening to books on tape. (Now it's Lark Rise to Candleford, about life at the end of the 19th century — a period otherwise known as her childhood.)
Johnston doesn't dwell on what age has taken away from her. "She's never been a complainer," says Julie. That attitude may have much to do with her prodigious longevity. Not to mention good genes and a whopping dose of good luck. Johnston's father, a Presbyterian minister, died at 69, her mother at 85. Her younger sister Vern died in 1997 at 105. Though Johnston had surgery for breast cancer in her 90s and a heart attack so minor she never noticed it, she has generally enjoyed superb health.
"I never had a special diet," she says. "I really like mashed potatoes and gravy." But Johnston has always been big on moderation. Even today, her daily snack consists of orange juice and exactly one cracker, one cinnamon-drop candy and one cashew. "That's enough," she insists.
Johnston, who graduated from Drake University in 1912, never smoked. This churchgoing minister's daughter never touched alcohol either, until she moved in with Julie and Bruce, who introduced her to Baileys Irish Cream, now part of an occasional family happy hour. As for exercise, it was just woven into an active schedule. Well into her 90s, she climbed up and down seven flights of stairs to her old apartment.
Johnston has certainly seen change in her life, and she rolls with it. "Electricity was the most important thing that happened to us," she reflects. The computer was intimidating, but she gave it a whirl: "I worked that mouse." And she's ready for more. "You can get too old to enjoy life," she says, adding slyly, "I never got that old."
- Wendy Cole/Worthington